HP Elite X3 makes a case for Windows phones in the workplace

Meet the enterprise device that wants to be your smartphone, laptop and desktop.

To say that Windows phones have struggled to find their feet would be an understatement, but HP reckons there's life in the platform yet. At MWC 2016 the firm has introduced the Elite X3, a Windows 10 Mobile smartphone that promises to usher in "a revolution in mobility."

Similar in appearance to most high-end smartphones, the Elite X3 touts a 6in AMOLED display with a 2,560x1,440 resolution, a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage (expandable via microSD) and a 4,150mAh battery compatible with either QI or PMA wireless charging.

Impressive hardware for a Windows 10 Mobile, but what makes the Elite X3 intriguing is that it isn't designed as just a smartphone, but rather a one-stop-shop for productivity via Continuum, a Windows 10 feature that lets the phone function as a make-shift PC when plugged into a larger display.

With such usage scenarios in mind, HP will be expanding the Elite X3 ecosystem with a Desk Dock that can be used to attach a DisplayPort monitor as well as peripherals via two USB ports and one USB Type-C. Taking it a step further, HP's Mobile Extender will arrive on the market as a 'dumb' laptop that will wirelessly connect to the Elite X3 for on-the-go productivity.

It's an interesting concept, and though we suspect most users would currently prefer to carry a separate smartphone and laptop, there's merit in Windows 10 Continium as a corporate solution. Want to know more? Check out the video overview from Keith Hartsfield, HP's Vice President of Mobility Solutions, at the top of the page.

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Nice hardware/capabilities. It's a really boring, uninspired design (minus the cheesy speaker grill), which is going to be problematic when a company's image is on the line if they decide to adopt this. I think this is the most innovative and forward looking mobile OS, but man… until major app compatibility is consistent, it's hard to want to adopt it. Maybe that's not as big of an issue on the corporate front, since they will likely be using Microsoft's ecosystem (outlook, Exchange, Active Directory, etc.), but for the rest of us who want to use, say, gmail's inbox, it's not so great. Also, pricing/availability is going to be interesting, I 'm curious how they are going to make this available. Only corporate sales?

lol I can't be the only one to think how ironic this is…. palm already did the dumb laptop linked to a phone…every tech site seems to have forgotten the palm foleo, funnily enough most slated the idea and it got cancelled. Here we have HP (who bought palm lol) repeating the idea for continuum…and most sites seem to like the idea. It's even more comical when iirc palm had more apps than windows ‘modern apps’.

Palm… ahead of their time in pretty much everything they produced before they were bought out, shame they couldn't release things on time, designed things that weren't cheap looking and/or have the budget to market it properly, they might have been fighting apple/google.

I do like a dock for my phone though, something 90% of other manufacturers are missing.

globalwarningNice hardware/capabilities. It's a really boring, uninspired design (minus the cheesy speaker grill), which is going to be problematic when a company's image is on the line if they decide to adopt this. I think this is the most innovative and forward looking mobile OS, but man… until major app compatibility is consistent, it's hard to want to adopt it. Maybe that's not as big of an issue on the corporate front, since they will likely be using Microsoft's ecosystem (outlook, Exchange, Active Directory, etc.), but for the rest of us who want to use, say, gmail's inbox, it's not so great. Also, pricing/availability is going to be interesting, I 'm curious how they are going to make this available. Only corporate sales?

Most mail apps for most mobile OS, including the ones provided on WP by default, have no problem using Gmail, Outlook or any other inbox of your choice.

Not to mention the Motorola Atrix, which has actually been through two or three generations. But they didn't run Windows. If all the core productivity apps that people expect to be on a PC are there, I can see huge mileage in a Continuum multi-mode device. I particularly like the concept of the wireles link to the laptop: AIUI your phone will still work as a phone whilst it's “docked” for continuum purposes so you'll be able to take calls whilst working on your documents and apps that are running on your phone … that's kinda neat ;)

I mean, don't get me wrong: it'll always be a niche product. But how many people have a work phone, a work laptop and a work desktop, that are all mostly used for email, web browsing and office? One device to fulfill all three functions, and no messing around with cloud storage or device syncing or anything because they're all the same device? I can see merit in that.